The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure. Accordingly, such statements are not intended to constitute an admission of prior art.
Red blood cell (RBC, erythrocyte) membrane fragility can be measured in various ways, principally either osmotically or mechanically. In general, it involves subjecting a sample of cells to a stress and measuring how much hemolysis occurs as a result of the applied stress. In the case of mechanical fragility (MF), cell membranes are exposed to some kind of mechanical disturbance such as a shear stress—which may vary in intensity, duration, or other parameters—while the proportion of cells lysing is tracked. This enables cells' overall susceptibility to hemolysis to be characterized and presented (comprehensively or selectively) in various ways. Fragility indices or profiles (single-parameter or multi-parameter) for erythrocytes may be desirable for research purposes or for clinical purposes. Applications may include blood product quality testing, diagnostics, clinical research, or basic research on RBC of humans or other species.